Here's what I know:
The orientation was about two hours, and told us how we get paid, how to do timesheets, who to see about a 403b (starting IMMEDIATELY -- wow!), how to get the Vandy ID badge, and how to put out a fire and avoid dangerous chemicals and radiation used in hospitals (which is odd, since I won't be working in a hospital). Oh, and what to expect if there's an emergency like a bomb threat, tornado, mass casualty event, etc. Lost patients, too, although I suspect there will be very few of those at the Peabody campus admin building. :)
After that, I had to meet with Sandy in HR, since I hadn't been interviewed. They had to confirm some of my resume items, and get me to sign off on two references (which I'd provided... why I had to sign off, I do not know), and see my driver's license and SocSec card. Then, it was off to Medical Center North, where, for some reason, the ID badges are made. They were out of blanks, so I was told to come back later in the day.
Then, I found where I would be working, some several minutes of aimlessly scooting around campus, later. I knew the general vicinity of the Peabody campus, and I had a map, but I had it in my backpack, and I figured I'd find it through intuition. I was right -- it's over there east of 21st Avenue South, very close to the pedestrian bridge. The admin building is plainly labeled as such on both sides of the building, so that's where I began my search. As it so happens, I asked for directions at the office across the hall from my interim boss, a nice lady I'll call K. She was not expecting one, let along two newbies, today. All that fell into place without her knowing it would happen so fast (her boss is in Boston through the holidays), so she needed to gather her wits to know what we would be doing in the coming days. She's on deadline with the site migration, so she's eager to put both N. and I to work ASAP.
The office coordinates marketing and communications for the Peabody College, basically. They're completely re-vamping their web presence, and they hired a firm from New Orleans to migrate the old site into an new platform that is XML driven. So, they're fine-tuning the data organization, layout and assorted other details.
We went over a lot of things that would typically take place in an interview (since I hadn't had one), and she bounced some ideas off me, just to see if I was as awake as I seemed. ;) She seemed to like my answers, though, and my questions... and was impressed that I had brought my mobile office in a Targus backpack. ;) I told her I was ready to rock, very little assembly required. First task: Go through six lectures, of varying length (30-90 minutes, each, supplied on CD-R as mp3 files), and select 10 mins. from each that might make a compelling audio clip for podcasting to prospective students. Given that the lectures are on educational policy, I dunno that I know compelling when I hear it, but... :) That's part of what we will discuss on the teleconference with the dean, in Boston, tomorrow morning. He's got a grand vision of having all this audio material available in encapsulated, excerpted format on the web site, so that seems to be my first mission.
More to come... kitties next!
4 comments :
Dude, you sound like you're more with it than my webmaster.
Feh.
We're about to have a big "come to jeebus meeting" here soon.
Sounds excellent. And it sounds like Vandy has a pretty good idea of what they're doing with all these Intertubes, which God knows is rare enough. Good for you, JP!!!
flg -- Well, I dunno if that's true or not, but I was a Web Wheel in the Fortune 100 just a few years ago. It's not my first rodeo... and I've worked in an academic IT setting, too, so I halfway know what's what, regarding Vanderbilt/Peabody. Peabody feels that Vandy's a little slow to adopt some of the web interactivity they'd like to see, and have outsourced this round of site re-design and content management. Sounds like a very smart move on their part, but I haven't laid eyes on the either the old or the new content management systems, so it'd premature to say if it's a net gain. However, K. seems very capable and smart, so I'd imagine it's a vast improvement.
I also got the impression that while I may be used as an editor, that duty may fall more to my co-newbie, N., as K. seemed to think I would be better utilized to help edit and possibly create the multimedia (audio and video, so far) content. K.'s not a techie, but she knows enough about it to be webmistress, and to liaison between the server and network dudes and her marketing hierarchy. She's very excited to have someone who can shoot and edit DV, and was blown away when I told her I had software on the notebook I brought to work that would edit those mp3 files. :)
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Wow, man, that sounds like one sweet fucking gig. Congrats!
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